Never before has a rapper been as inextricably linked to the NBA playoffs as Lil B has been in 2015. Dishing out warnings, curses and pardons like he's a 14th century pope, the Based God's been central to the conversation around the games, interacting with rappers on Twitter, attending games to strengthen his magic and even popping up on ESPN to clarify just who's on his shit list.
For us hip hop fans, Lil B's wrath is nothing new. Although he usually promotes positivity, he's also spent the past five or so years dishing out diss tracks to anyone who speaks out against him or insults his craft. Due to the insane rate at which he churns out music, that means quite a few diss tracks. In order to better understand what exactly sets off the divine Based deity, as well as provide some historical context for his current black magic, we're listing everyone that's ever had an official diss or curse aimed at them, chronologically.
Any glaring omissions? Let us know in the comments.
Kat Stacks
The Worldstar celebrity was the target of one of Lil B's earliest diss tracks, "Violate That Bitch," which came out in 2010. Introducing the track by saying "Aye man, this for that stank faggot bitch Kat Stacks. That boo boo grass smellin' bitch, faggot bitch Kat Stacks," Based God makes this one of his most biting disses, as there's no way you could misconstrue this one. No word on whether this beef is ongoing or squashed.
Lil B started off as a big fan of Budden, but when the New Jersey MC didn't seem interested in showing love to the Based God, he invoked Lil B's rage. B hit Budden up on Twitter saying “Joe follow me. I’m a supporter of you. Check me out. Let’s do some work,” and when he didn't get a response, said, “Fine, Joe, I’m a better lyricist than you. You cannot see me lyrically.” He then released "T Shirts & Buddens," and the beef hasn't been squashed since.
Kevin Durant
Lil B's most famous curse is also his longest-standing one. His hex on KD began back in 2011, after Durant tweeted "I tried to listen to Lil B and my mind wouldn't let me do it....can't believe this guy is relevant," and B responded with the following:
KEVIN DURANT WILL NEVER WIN THE TITLE AFTER HE SAID "LIL B" IS A WACK RAPPER, "THE BASEDGODS CURSE" #THEBASEDGODSCURSE ON DURANT - Lil B
After a much-hyped one-on-one game never took place, Lil B declared a brief lifting of the curse, but that ended last year during the All-Star Game:
AND FUCK KEVIN DURANT LIL B FOR LIFE - Lil B
An official diss track soon followed...
And on ESPN last night, Lil B confirmed that the curse against KD is still going strong. This concludes the saga (for now) of one of the strangest interactions between an athlete and a rapper we've ever seen.
The Game
This one's definitely the most tame diss of the bunch, but in 2011, Lil B ended up responding to some shots The game fired his way by calling the L.A. rapper "irrelevant." Quoth Based God: "Game's talking about me, but right now, and I respect Game. I got Live From Compton 2, so Game already know, you're a legend in my book. But he's irrelevant. Based God!"
In his 2011 song "Swag," David Banner takes aim at the "swag rap" movement, and specifically Lil B and Soulja Boy with the mocking line "Get a new outfit and a dance like this: Cook! Swag! Woo! Cook! Swag! Woo!" The next year, Lil B fired back with "I Own Swag," but soon hashed it out with Banner.
JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH @THEREALBANNER AND REAL TALK I LEARNED ALOT AND JUST NO I ROCKS WITH BANNER OFF TOP AND WE GOT SWAG - Lil B
Joey Bada$$
Bada$$ included the barb “They say hard work pays off / Well, tell the Based God don’t quit his day job” on his 2012 track "Survival Tactics," and after he quoted it in a now-deleted tweeted to Lil B, Based God fired back with a diss track:
In a rare turn of events, Joey actually fired back with a diss track of his own:
This one didn't get quite as much publicity, but last year, Lil B took shots at everyone's favorite Atlanta trio in a song called "Rick Ross."
Migos weren't happy:
@LILBTHEBASEDGOD BITCH ASS NIGGAS LOL
@LILBTHEBASEDGOD ILL BEAT YO ASS BOI
And Based God eventually said it was all love:
shout out to @MigosATL @QuavoStuntin i hollerd at big magic @TrillAssFoolie its all love - Lil B
James Harden
Towards the beginning of the NBA playoffs last month, Lil B levied a curse against Houston Rockets guard Harden for allegedly stealing his cooking dance. He told TMZ, "He's cursed for the rest of the playoffs and further notice until he speaks on what dance celebration he's doing and where it comes from."
Harden then responded, saying "I don't even know who [Lil B] is." B's ever-loyal Task Force (led by Kreayshawn) then revealed that Harden definitely knows who Based God is, linking to a tweet he posted in 2011 saying that he was listening to the rapper:
Shouts out to kreayshawn @KREAYSHAWN @JHarden13 for uncovering facts about James harden i may push for the curse for his lying - Lil B
Yesterday, a few weeks after the Rockets had been eliminated from the playoffs, B lifted the curse.
Chedda Da Connect
As James Harden learned (the hard way), you don't just flick your wrist around willy-nilly without first getting approval from his royal majesty of all things wrist-related, Lil B. So when Chedda Da Connect's "Flicka The Wrist" started charting, and Chedda failed to get a Based God co-sign, he was accused of swag theft:
That fat boy from Texas that made flicka the wrist song stealing Lil B swag is soooo disrespectful and lebron jr smith and iman 2 - Lil B
The author of last year's biggest wrist anthem knew better:
we're already cool, I been paid homage https://t.co/1KmyOESrB2
see, been blessed 😇 pic.twitter.com/mrJLC8vPN8